Resilient clip arrangement



June 10, 1958 c. KE TEsz 2,338,055

' RESILIENT CLIP ARRANGEMENT Filed Dec. 7, 1954 36 I IIIIIII-IIIIIIII-IIIIE 10 I 35 30 3/ 9 5 3/00 x01 flq ll. 75 53 86 INVENTOR ATTORN EY United States Patent RESILIENT CLlI ARRANGEMENT Carl Kertesz, Westbury, N. Application December 7, 1954, Serial No. 473,527 3 Claims. (Cl. 132-48) The present invention relates to a resilient clip arrangement which may be conveniently fashioned out of sheet metal.

Although not limited thereto the present invention will be particularly described in its application to womens hair clips.

It however has a much broader application to resilient clips for holding sheets of material, fibrous material, or fabrics for various purposes.

It is among the objects of the present invention to provide a simple, durable, inexpensive spring clip arrangement which may be readily used for clamping together sheet or fibrous materials, and which has a par ticular application to use in connection with womens hair dressing.

Another object is to provide an inexpensive, readily assembled, durable clip arrangement which will reliably seize or grasp the hair and which may be readily used by a hairdresser or by a woman in dressing her own hair.

Still further objects and advantages will appear in the more detailed description set forth below, it being understood, however, that this more detailed description is given by way of illustration and explanation only and not by way of limitation, since various changes therein may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention.

In accomplishing the above objects it has been found most satisfactory, according to one embodiment of the present invention, to provide a bifurcated double leg arrangement in which the bifurcated leg elements will be pressed together by means of a spring tongue stamped out of one of the opposing bifurcated elements.

In the preferred form two spring tongues are utilized, one on each side of the double leg structure, and they function in addition to prevent lateral displacement of the two opposite bifurcated members which are kept in alignment or in correct position in respect to each other so that the fibrous or sheet material may be conveniently grasped or clipped therebetween.

In still another form of the invention tongues may be struck out of one member, which tongues may be fitted into slots in the other member, and thus hold thelother member against lateral displacement.

Although pivotal connections may also be utilized, these are generally not preferred since they cause greater expense in assembly and normally require special tools.

In the preferred form the opposing bifurcated elements are so formed that they may be readily fitted together and latched into place when they are sprung together.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, the invention consists of the novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts as hereinafter more specifically described, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein is shown an embodiment of the invention, but it is to be understood that changes, variations and zfi fios Patented June 10, 1958 modifications can be resorted to which fall within the scope of the claims hereunto appended.

In the drawings wherein like reference characters denote corresponding parts throughout the several views: Fig. l is a top plan view of one form of resilient clip according to the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view upon the line 2-2 Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional view taken upon the line 55 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 6 is a top plan view similar to Fig. 1 of an alternative embodiment, with the upper and lower bifurcated elements pivotally connected together by'side pivotears.

Fig. 7 is a transverse longitudinal sectional view taken upon the line 7-7 of Fig. 6.

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary top plan view of the pivot end of an alternative embodiment showing two side tensioning tongues for pressing the bifurcated elements together.

Fig. 9 is a side elevational view of the embodiment of Fig. 8 taken from the line 99 of Fig. 8.

Fig. 10 is a top plan view of the lower bifurcated elements of the embodiment of Figs. 8 and 9 upon a reduced scale as compared to Figs. 8 and 9.

Fig. 11 is a top plan view of the upper bifurcated element of the clip structure of Figs. 8 and 9, upon a reduced scale as compared to Figs. 8 and 9.

Referring to the embodiment of Figs. 1 to 4, there is shown a lower clip element A with a resilient tongue B and an upper bifurcated clip element C.

The lower element has the flat forwardly extended legs 10 which are joined by the cross member 11. Beyond the bridge 11 there is a slotted portion 12 forming the side members 13 which are directed upwardly at 14.

Across the hump or highest portion 15 of the lower member A there is provided the transverse slot 16 at the ends of which there are the upstanding tongues 17.

Beyond the transverse slot 16 the slotted portion 12 diverges as indicated at 18,-and the slot then terminates at 19 adjacent the head 20 of the lower bifurcated element A.

Extending into the slot 12 is the tongue B which has a relatively wide base indicated at 21 at which it curves upwardly as indicated at 22 to above the hump or highest portion 15, and then has the end lip 23 to press down upon the upper bifurcated element C.

The upper bifurcated element C has the side corrugated legs 30 with the connecting cross bridge 31 adajacent the ends 32 of the side legs.

At the pivot end of the legs there is the bridge portion 33 having a recess 34 which receives the lip 23 of the spring tongue B.

The bridge 33 then bows downwardly as indicated at 35 to contact the upper bow 15 of the lower element A and then it extends upwardly to form the actuating upper member 36 corresponding to the actuating lower member 24 of the lower element A.

The upper bifurcated element C has a transverse slot 37 the ends of which receive the upstanding tongue 17 from the lower element A, and it also has the divergent slot extension 38 through which the resilient tongue B projects to pass over on to the bridge portion 33 of the between the upper and lower bifurcated elements C and A. At the same time the divergent or wedge shaped slot 38 provides ready passage for the resilient tongue element 13.

The lip 23 of this element will lodge in a square recess 34 in the upper element C and will press the two legs 30 against the lower legs 16 until they meet as indicated at 39.

The wedge or enlarged base 21 of the resilient tongue P will give it greater strength and prevent breakage at the root or base 40 of the tongue B, and the bridges indicated at 11, 31 and 33 will give the necessary transverse strength to prevent bending or dislodgment of the legs.

The two bifurcated elements A and C may bereadily assembled together by inserting the tongue through the notch or opening 38 and the upstanding elements 17 at the ends of the transverse slot 37.

The lip 23 will lock in the square recess 34 forming a permanent assembly which will stay in position regardless of how rigorously the clip device may be used.

The Woman may readily press the extending elements or actuate the portions 24 and 36 together whereupon the bifurcated legs 10 and 30 will be separated and fibrous or sheet materials may be inserted therebetween to be grasped by the legs upon release of the actuator or handle members 24 and 36.

In the embodiment of Figs. 5, 6 and 7 the lower bifurcated element D may be of similar structure to the lower bifurcated element A as far as the side legs 50 are concerned.

I However, instead of the abutting portions t and 35 of Figs. 1 to 4 all inclusive, there are provided the upstanding side tongues 51 from the side edges 52 of the legs 50.

Similarly the tongue 53 has a wide root portion '54 and extends up through the opening 55 in the upper bifurcated member E.

The upper bifurcated member E has the corrugated legs 56 with the bridge 57 and it also has the square recess 58 at the base portion 59.

The end lip 60 of the tongue 53 will fit in the recess 58 and lock the upper and lower elements D and E together.

The side edges 61 of the upper legs B will have the depending pivot tongues 62. The tongues 62 are connected together by providing one with an opening and the other with a notch as best indicated at 53 in Fig. 6.

The arrangement of Figs. 6 and 7 will function similarly to that of Figs. 1 to 5, with the actuator members 64 and 65 being pressed together to separate the legs 50 and 56, and with the spring tongue 53 pressing said legs together into that contact as indicated at 66, when the two members 64 and 65 are released.

In the embodiment of Figs. 8 to 11 there is a lower bifurcated element F with the side legs 75 and the base bridge 76.

The base portion 76 is of narrower width than the legs 75 which form its sides and are stamped with the resilient tongues 77 having the upturned end lip portions 78.

These tongues 77 also have wide roots or base portions 79 adjacent the ends of the bifurcated member F.

The end 80 acts as a finger actuating element.

Referring to the upper bifurcated member G there are two corrugated side legs 81 joined by the bridge 82 adjacent their ends 83. Adjacent the pivot connection the legs 81 have the bowed down portion 84 which rest upon the flat portion 76 of the lower bifurcated element F.

Before the bowed down portion 84 are the side recesses 85 which receive the lips 78 of the resilient tongues 77. These tongues extend upwardly through the side slots 86 at the side edges of the bifurcated element G.

The end of the bifurcated upper element G has a handle portion 87 which, when grasped with the element 86, will enable the bifurcated portions 75 and 81 to be separated from their contacting position as indicated at 89.

' The lower bifurcated element F may be readily snapped into position in respect to the upper element G, and the opposite tongues 77 will hold the structure in position against lateral displacement.

The structure of Figs. 8 to 11 gives maximum resiliency, enables ready assembly, gives the best tension compared to the minimum pressure required to open the legs and 81 from each other by pressing upon the handle members and 87.

The engaging tongue 17 and slot 37 of Fig. l and double tongue 77 of Figs. 8 and 10 will give a better connection between the bifurcated upper and lower elements, and will be part of the connection 63 shown between the upturned and downturned ears 51 and 62 of Fig. 7.

The applicant has therefore provided a simple, durable, readily utilized double bifurcated clip element which may be readily and simply stamped out of thin resilient sheet steel or other resilient sheet metal, and which when so formed is durable and may be readily utilized by a hairdresser or housewife.

It has been found by placing a tit or bump as indicated in Fig. 9 directly inside of the turn or mount 84, upon opening the pivot portion 84 will move in the direction 101 and latch or lock itself in open position on the right side of said tit 100. This will make it much easier for the hairdresser or user of the clip to open or close the clip as shown in Fig. 9, since it will latch or unlatch itself in open or closed position.

Instead of the upper and lower members A and C or D and E converging to the right, they may be so bent that they will be in parallelism to each other.

Generally, in the embodiment of Fig. 9 there will be a pivoting or latching at 7684 with the bow 84 sliding backwardly and forwardly to latch in open or closed position.

The construction is simple, the assembly may be carried out by the shop and the pieces stay together even though subjected to considerable usage by the hairdresser.

The device is much more satisfactory than bobby pins since the grip elements may be readily separated by relatively simple manipulations, and the spring elements may be readily found in the hair and may be readily removed and re-used.

As many changes could be made in the above resilient clip arrangement, and many widely different embodiments of this invention could be made without departing from the scope of the claims, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, what is claimed is:

-1. A double bifurcated spring clip for resiliently clamping together strands of hair and other fibrous and sheet materials comprising two bifurcated elements having pivotal end portions with separated manual actuators, one having a plurality of parallel lateral spaced spring tongue means stamped integrally therefrom and projecting through and onto the other element and pressing the two elements together, the said second mentioned element having a recessed portion, said spring tongue means being outwardly and convexly bowed so as to project away from the first mentioned element and with its intermediate portion projecting up through the recessed portion in said second mentioned element and with its end portion projecting downwardly toward the second mentioned element until it contacts said element and presses it toward the first mentioned element, each of said elements having elongated legs which are in facing juxtaposition and means associated with said spring tongue means to prevent relative longitudinal slippage between said elements.

2. The clip of claim 1, said second mentioned element having a second recessed portion receiving the end por- References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Buchner Dec. 23, 1952 Schildt May 19, 1953 Schildt Aug. 31, 1954 

